Dawn of These Clans challenges
by Femme Fatale on Ice
Summary: See title
1. Chapter 1

**Topic: Waiting**

 **Minimum Words: 500**

Thorngaze pace back and forth. His apprentice, Cherrypaw, stood nearby, watching anxiously. A pained yowl echoed through the clearing. Thorngaze seemed to move faster. Cherrypaw stepped forward.

"Thorngaze, stop! Your paw is bleeding." The brown tom looked down, surprised to see a thorn sticking from his pad. Cherrypaw stretched her head forward and gently pulled it out with her teeth.

"You must sit down." She said. Grudgingly, Thorngaze obliged. The small red she-cat sat next to him.

"Flamefeather will be fine." Cherrypaw soothed. Her dark green eyes shone from the gloom, sending a dash of comfort through the older tom. Then a silver tabby emerged from the den.

"Cherrypaw! Fetch Redtail!" Cherrypaw shot the tabby a look of alarm and confusion before she ran off to the medicine den. Thorngaze ran toward Silverfeather.

"What's going on?! Is she alright?!" The frantic tom tried to force his way into the nursery, but was blocked by the small she-cat.

"Iceheart! Firesoul! Hold him back!" A white she-cat with ice blue eye and russet tom stood and ran to help. Eventually, Thorngaze gave up the fight. As he deflated onto the ground, his apprentice returned with a ginger and white tom behind her. Cherrypaw returned to his side while the tom ran into the nursery. Thorngaze's eyes were dull as he looked at the small cat at his side.

"She has to be okay." He murmured. Cherrypaw pressed closer to his side.

"She will be. Have faith."

* * *

Redtail walked from the den with his tail on the ground. His gray whiskers drooped, and his blue eyes were dull. He looked up when the voice he'd been dreading to hear sounded above him, and he jerked his head toward the nursery. The uneven pattering of paws running across the ground reached his old ears, and he shook his head sadly. Sighing, he headed to his den, trying desperately to block out the mournful wailing coming from the bramble thicket.

* * *

Sparkkit crouched underneath the ferns by the warriors den, waiting for her father to exit. Finally, a cat stepped from the opening and she leaped, realizing to late that it was not Thorngaze as she had originally thought, but Cherryflame.

"Oops! Sorry Cherryflame!" She giggled. Dark green eyes shone with laughter underneath her, as her tiny claws pressed into the warriors shoulder.

"Oh no! The badger's got me! Whatever shall I do?!" Sparkkit squealed when Cherryflame suddenly rolled over, trapping the smaller cat beneath her.

"What have you done to my daughter Cherryflame?" The deep mew came from the entrance to the warriors den. The weight lifted from Sparkkits body, and she scrambled up, panting. Thorngaze stood there, shaking his head with amusement. Cherryflame purred.

"She's perfectly all right." But Thorngaze's eyes still shone with worry for his small daughter. He leaned forward and licked her head, flattening the small tuft of fur that stuck up from her earlier scramble. With a mew of protest, Sparkkit backed away and ran her paw over her head. Her bright green eyes shone with indignation and her Tortoishell pelt was bristled along her spine. Thorngaze let out a _mrrow_ of laughter at the sight of his only kit trying to look threatening. It wasn't working.


	2. Drowning

**Topic: Drowning**

 **Minimum Words: 500**

Lizardfang flailed in the water. Her paws weakening as she struggled. A yowl ripped itself from her throat.

"Help! Help me!"

The water soaked her fur, weighing it down. The current swept at her, dragging her down into the icy depths of the river. Guilt flooded her mind at the the thought of the kit she was not supposed to have. The kit, Flashkit, had been born unto a Thunderclan warrior, Nightblaze. Out of desperation, she had left the small ginger-and-white tom at the border. The other two of the litter had died at birth. Flashkit had grown into a strong, healthy cat. One of the most feared fighters in the forest, he had earned the warrior name Flashclaw. He would have been killed by Darkstar if Lizardfang had kept him. Is this how Starclan repaid her? By giving her a slow, frightful death? Water washed over her muzzle and filled her paws slowed, weakening from her long struggle. Blackness pressed on the edges of her vision but she angrily shook it away. It was not her time. Shadowclan needed her. A tightness gathered in her chest and she coughed, inhaling more water as she did so. Still coughing, Lizardfang paddled for the shore, but didn't have the strength. She gave out, her legs stopped paddling, and her body went limp. Her head ducked under the water and water flooded her senses. Adrenaline shot through her, and she burst from the water, coughing miserably, trying to rid her lungs of the water that had invaded them. The liquid that had forced itself into her body came back up.

"Help me! Please!"

She managed to gasp out. The steep walls of the gorge were surrounding her now. She floundered desperately, trying to keep her head above the water as she was tossed around in the speeding white water. But as she crashed into rocks, barely holding on to her conciousness, she heard a yowl.

"Don't give up! You're almost there!"

"Don't give up Lizardfang! You can do it!"

"You can make it darling, just a little farther, and then you can join us."

Indeed, Lizardfang could see the end of the gorge and the calmer waters beyond it. She paddled furiously, holding to those three presences that made her heart ache. Then the bridge was passing over head, and she gave up.

"Welcome home, Lizardfang."

"Come on! I want you to meet Jaykit!"

"Come on mother!"

-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-.'.-

Flashclaw jerked awake in his warm nest.

"What in the name of Starclan, was that?"

Sparkblossom, Thorngaze's only kit, was roused from where she slept next to him Flashclaw gently licked her ear and reminded his mate that she would be moving to the nursery today, before heading off in search of Nightblaze.

"Hey son, what's the problem?"

The black warrior spoke from behind him, and Flashclaw had to surpress the urge to whip around and attack.

"I-I don't know...exactly."

"Is it about Sparkblossom? I'm sure she'll be fine."

Nightblaze blinked sympathetically at his kit. Flashclaw sighed and shook his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

The two warriors headed out of camp and toward the Riverclan border, talking quietly about the younger cats dream.

"There was water. Water everywhere. Choking me, drowning me. What does it mean?"

Nightblaze blinked.

"You might want to talk to Duskwater abou-"

Both cats were cut off as they saw a sodden orange-and-white bundle stuck on some brambles at the edge of the water. Flashclaw jumped forward and nosed the bundle.

"Nightblaze, she smells of Shadowclan!"

The black cat jumped forward, his dark green eyes widening in recognition.

"Lizardfang?''

"You know this cat?!"

Nightblaze nodded sadly.

"I should have told you this long ago. My mate was Lizardfang. She is your mother. She left you at the border for me so that her leader couldn't kill you for being half clan."

Flashclaw stared at his father in amazement.

"What?"

"I'll explain later. For now, let's get her back to camp."


End file.
